Shadowed
by SleepyLlama2012
Summary: Her parents knew from the moment Faith was born that she wasn't going to be a normal child. Growing up as an outsider, she never had life easy. Now she's older, an orphan but a brave and skilled warrior. But when she was captured by Silus, (enemy and killer,) her skills as a person and a warrior will be pushed past anything she's ever experienced before.
1. Chapter 1

**Why hello there, viewers. I have no idea what in the world compelled you to click on this, but I'll say this, I'M SO HAPPY YOU DID. Anyways, I made up this story entirely out of awesome and wits, (so it's mine! MY PRECIOUS.) AHEM. Please enjoy, (and don't come after me with pitchforks and frying pans if you hate it, (JUST PRETEND TO LIKE IT.)**

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_He always follows me._

_He hangs in my mind._

_He will never leave._

_He will never stand down, so I will never stand up._

_As long as He is here, everyone thinks I'm a monster…_

_But even if he did leave…_

_They'd still call me a monster._

I stared quietly at the cold, black brick wall in front of my face. The frost radiated off it silently, a cold killer that was slowly turning me frozen. I didn't want to get up. I was in too much pain… but then again, if I just lie there it wouldn't do me much good either. I sighed and slowly, very slowly, got into a sitting position. As I did so, my broken shoulder shifted in the wrong direction, and I ended up choking back tears quietly in the corner of my cell. If my captor found out he'd come in and beat me for sure.

_But why should we be afraid of him? _He asked me.

_Because. _I replied calmly. _If we aren't he'll kill me._

_ I'll make him go away Faith, along with this human mind._

As soon as these words slipped out of his mouth, I had to push down my rage. How dare he try to pull me into insanity! He should know this by now. If he takes over me one more time…

He instantly read my thoughts, _I won't hurt you. You'll have no fear of that madman. _

I smiled faintly. _Are you sure he's the mad one here?_

Suddenly I heard my captor, Silus, clop noisily down the hall. I also heard the sounds of shouts coming from the next person he was hauling in. I choked back my words as the bloody, torn mess he called a person was dragged in by shuffling feet.

The boy's voice moaned in pain, but he tried desperately to fight back by cursing and sassing at Silus. Of course, Silus just shrugged it off like it was nothing, as usual.

"Why are you upset, your highness?" Silus crooned. "Aww. Is the prince just too tired to come up with something good to say to me?"

"Monster…" The apparent 'prince' murmured.

Silus laughed obnoxiously. "That's your best, huh?"

I hugged my legs with my good arm. I blinked and watch Silus stop in front of my cell with the prince.

"This, princey, is your new roommate! Her name is Faith!" Silus cried happily.

As soon as the boy hit the floor, I scrambled as far away from him as I could. People scared me… and they also made Him angry….

The prince smiled and blinked wearily. "You too?"

I huddled up in a tighter ball as I began to sweat. Hedidn't really like this boy at all. His rage welled up in my chest and boiled my cheeks . I shook my head and tried to push His eager thoughts of violence down when suddenly, Silus came up and picked me right off the ground.

Silus pulled me in close. "And how is your guest in there? Is he comfortable enough?"

I my brow furrowed. "It's _Bestia._" I peeped quietly.

Silus smiled. "You and your latin, Faith. I know who Beast is okay?"

Suddenly Beast took over my mind. I twitched and, after a brief spasm, I adapted some of his features, (I was so frail… it was too easy for him to take over.) I glared with Beast's red, blood thirsty eyes. His twisted, inflicting tongue overpowered my voice. His scratchy, deep growl sounded throughout the cells, sending any prisoner cowering in fear for their lives.

"_HAHAHA! You puny human, you cannot possibly dream of taking me down!" _He rasped. _"YOU ARE NO-"_

I immediately cut him off in desperation. I gasped and choked back his impulsive demands to take over my mind. I instinctively kicked Silus in the abdomen, causing him to drop me in a restless heap on the floor. My heart was beating so fast, I clenched my hand on my chest in worry that it might leap out. Steadily, my pulse slowed and my body got a huge, painful helping of fatigue. The prince stared at me, surprisingly not trying to run away, (like people usually did.) Instead he look quite curious, while Silus, on the other hand, was glaring at me.

"What did I say about controlling him Faith?!" He yelled, standing up.

I was so angry and tired to care what the hell happened to me next, so I decided to crack my shell and see how deep of a hole I could dig myself . "You asked for it."

His reaction was absolutely pathetic since no one, (especially me,) ever talks back to him. "Excuse me?" He asked sternly.

"I'm sorry you Royal Pain in My Ass, did I offend you?"

"Is that Beast?" He asked, frankly stunned by my words.

"Hardly." I replied. "I just get a little more adventurous when you get both Beast and I ticked off."

He came up, arm extending, ready to beat my to death when the prince came in front of me and crunched Silus' fist in his hand. Silus promptly screamed and let his hand fall by his legs and gritted his teeth.

"Get. Out." The prince commanded.

"Keep an extra two guarding tonight." Silus commanded the nearest guard and slinked away, holding his hand.

The prince turned around and looked at me with familiar, caring eyes. "You okay?"

I nodded slowly, sighing.

"So you're Faith, am I right?"

I agreed sheepishly.

He threw me a quizzical look. "Not to sound bad but… you don't remember..?"

"No…" I said quietly.

"Oh." He said, hanging his head. "Well I'm Aragon… but I prefer Aaron."

Aaron. Aragon. I liked those names.

_So you don't remember? _Beast commented in my head.

_What…? No. He's familiar but…_ I stared at his face… strong, but gentle. He was fit, and I guaranteed myself that there was definitely a six pack under that shirt.

_Humans… _Beast murmured. _So tedious._

_ Quiet._ I replied defensively.

"You were rocking your arm earlier." Aaron said. "Did you break it?"

I nodded.

"Can I try looking at it?"

I gave him a cautious glare and let my body slide back slowly.

"Faith please." Aaron said, with a pleading expression.

I considered, and eventually agreed. "I… I guess it wouldn't hurt."

Aaron smiled and approached my damaged shoulder and examined it. "Wow… what happened? The bone…"

"Is coming out of my shoulder?" I gave a faint smile. "Yeah… it hurts."

His expression quickly turned upset. "Silus…"

I pursed my lips. "Yeah. Torture. Snapped it like a twig."

He looked into my eyes and saw the scratches and bruises. "We need to get you out of here."

"I'm fine…" I protested.

"No." He insisted. "He will make you die down here."

"I wouldn't let him, Aaron." I replied. "I'm too stubborn."

"True." He said, almost as if he knew. "I'm breaking you out, though."

"Good luck with that." I said, laying down. "You should rest."

"Fine." He sighed, and hesitantly closed his eyes.

Soon after, I knocked out. I hadn't eaten in days, making me more exhausted than ever. It was a cruel world, but I knew I wasn't about to let it take me.

"Faith! Faith, wake up!"

I drowsily opened up my eyes at the call of my name. I turned to find Aaron shaking my good shoulder. "Faith!"

"What…?" I asked groggily.

"They're gonna take you away."

"What?!" I said, trying to sit up.

Aaron grabbed my hand and helped me into a sitting position. "Silus is planning your death sentence."

Beast growled angrily. _No!_

I looked down at the floor, pained. _Already…?_

"C'mon." Aaron said hastily. "We're leaving."

"How?" I asked, trying to reason with him. "Even if we did manage to get out of the cell, past the guards, and actually navigate this place, how well do you think it's going to go when Silus finds out we're gone? He'll send out hunters and kill us on the spot."

_Faith… _Beast growled, _you can't just let yourself die…_

_ You can leave whenever you want Beast, you know that._

_ But you'd die._

I smiled, so that demon did care. _And you'd live. _

Aaron interrupted my conversation. "We'd hide." He insisted.

My throat suddenly became tighter. "Aaron… I couldn't survive… I've lost a lot of blood."

_Faith… Listen to him, please._

I pushed Beast down and silenced him. "I would die."

Aaron shook his head. "No." He replied sternly, walking over to the cell door. "I thought I'd let you rest before the journey. So I decided to stay quiet until now." With that, the door swung open and he removed the lockpick. He muffled his steps and picked me off the ground. "I'm not about to let you leave again." He whispered, and quietly made his way down the corridor. He set me down at the corner, and I heard some men drop to the floor on the other side. He came back with a sword and picked me up again.

This confused me. Why in the world did he say again? What did I do? I don't remember what happened at all, but it felt like I knew him, and knew what he meant.

"I can… walk.." I whispered weakly, (which contradicted everything I was stating.)

He sighed. "Fine. But not until we get outside, you'll need your energy."

I nodded, trying hard not to slip out of consciousness.

Aaron looked down at my face and gave a half-hearted smile. "Hang in there, Faith."

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**Well, that's it for Chapter 1. This is the first story I ever posted anywhere, so please, TAKE IT EASY. If this goes over well, I guess I'll keep going, if not... (well that's for me to know and for you to find out.) Please, feel free to review, but no 'flames' (seriously, I don't wanna crash and burn... which I probably will...)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, I haven't had anyone track me down with pitchforks, so I'm assuming you're okay with all of this (either that or you people haven't heard of Google Earth.) Now again, this is pure awesomeness and smarticles here, and well... IT'S MINEE. (copyright SleepyLlama2012 all rights reserved blah blah blah.) Enough chat, FEAST YOUR EYES ON EPICOCITY PEEPS!**

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Aaron looked down at my face and gave a half-hearted smile. "Hang in there, Faith."

Before I knew it, alarms were being sounded, and Aaron had to set me down again to defend me. Normally I would be the one kicking ass… well I really WANTED to kick ass, but I hardly believe that my body would agree with me. So there I sat, until Aaron grabbed me off the ground and began to run with me, a little ragdoll.

Suddenly I heard shouts and hunters protesting at our escape. Aaron set me down on my wobbly feet. "C'mon Faith! We gotta go!"

I looked behind me to find a herd of agitated men shouting with pointed steel in hand.

_Beast, a little help here._

_My pleasure._

My eyes glowed furiously and I adapted a wolfish grin. My legs had thick, black, smoke-like magic swirling around me. I turned back to Aaron, who was gesturing me to the exit. I smiled and followed him.

When I pulled up next to him, Aaron looked at me, surprised. "Why hello Beast."

"_Hello, human." _

I coughed. "Don't encourage him."

Aaron smiled. "Well-"

Suddenly, he crumpled to the ground, poisoned arrow embedded in his shoulder. For a moment I stopped, and just stood there. Then I kneeled next to his body and screamed his name. "ARAGON!" I called, hot tears running down my face in the cold, winter air. "ARAGON, PLEASE!" I shook his body desperately trying to wake him. "ARAGON WAKE UP!" I held my hand over the open wound and tried not to lose it. Aaron was the only other person between me and Silus, and I definitely didn't want to lose him. "Please..." I whimpered.

An annoying laugh echoed from the not far distance.

"Silus…" I growled, standing up.

"You are foolish to think you could escape. Now look at your friend, dead." He grinned at the sight of Aaron's motionless body.

I laughed. "The only one dead," I said transforming into Beast's full form, (a huge, ferocious black wolf with red eyes.,) "_IS YOU." _ I growled, froth dripped from my yellow fangs as I stalked towards him.

"No… not again…!" Silus cried, grabbing his sword. "Don't get any closer."

"_Is the little boy scared?" _Beast andI asked mockingly, working as one. _"HE SHOULD BE."_

Silus trembled. "You! Get away from me!" He yelled desperately.

"_I have no idea why I didn't do this sooner." _I said, pouncing. I clawed at any bit of exposed skin. Ripping, tearing. Silus was screaming in terror as my claws made contact with his flesh. He waved his sword and cut me on the chest. I howled in pain and jumped, my now black blood splattered on the fresh fallen snow.

The pain was immense. It burned my body as I whimpered and clawed angrily at the snow.

Silus laughed. "Holy sword, you monster!" With that, he charged, furious.

I was just as upset, and did the same.

We both fought until we could barely stand. Finally I used my disease-carrying fangs, and with one big chomp on his leg, I sent my bloody enemy into the snow with a thud.

I smiled, and transformed back into a human. Beast was dead silent, and I was bleeding badly. As if my shoulder wasn't enough.

Suddenly I remembered Aaron, who was most likely dead.

_Why do I care so much about him? _I thought, I didn't know him… but my conscious did. I knew he was important, and he HAD to be okay. So, thinking this I ran over and flipped him over, face up. He was pale and had no pulse, more tears were threatening me with another breakdown. I shook my head, crying was not going to help him live, and I had full intention of making that happen.

I focused and soon had the healing spell in my hand. It set a golden glow on everything, making the scene a little more hopeful. I quickly put it over Aaron's wound and the magic soon turned into a bubbling green ball of poison. I yelped and threw it into the nearby snow. I turned back to find his wounds closing, and the color slowly returning to his face. He suddenly gasped and began choking.

"Faith..?" He asked looking at me. He saw my injuries and immediately sat upright. "What the hell happened to you?!"

I gestured to Silus, who was breaking out into a seizure and twitching madly behind us.

"Faith…" He said, holding me up.

"It's.. I... I thought you were…"

He looked at me sadly. "You didn't have to."

I smiled, my vision slowly turning black. "Yes, I did."

I felt my muscles relax and my heart beginning to pound in my chest. Aaron began saying my name and trying to get me to come to. He picked me up and began to walk. The last words I heard from him were: "So help me, if you die Faith, I'm gonna kill you."

"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE YOU BIRD!"

I heard Aaron yelling at a creature, that was cawing angrily.

"WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?! GO AWAY!"

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Cold winds blasted through a thick blanket wrapped around me. We were in a birch tree forest, with snow falling constantly. I looked around and fingered my red bandana, which was torn, along with the majority of my clothing. I felt another blast of wind coming, and tensed when it did. I looked up in the sky to see a graceful white falcon swooping overhead. When it saw me staring, it flew down and landed near me. It cocked it's head, golden eyes glowing with curiosity. Seeing the bird I smiled, realizing it was my Mom's pet falcon, Aviarius, (AKA: Avian.)

"Hey buddy." I said, rubbing my finger on his head. He cooed, and walked closer. "Came looking for Mom huh?" He looked intently at my freckled, tan face. "What?"

Aaron came scurrying up the hill, covered in snow. "Faith…" He sighed, relieved. "You've-" When he saw the bird he groaned. "Is he yours?"

I nodded, and ran my hand down Aviarius' back. "My mom's, actually." I broke out into a small coughing fit and nearly sent Aaron to the nearest town to get a doctor. Instead, he came and knelt next to me.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, concerned.

"Okay… I guess."

He frowned. "Faith you had me worried." He paused and swallowed. "You… didn't have a pulse. You're face was grey, and you were barely even breathing."

I shrugged with my good shoulder. "It's happened before."

He sighed and averted his gaze to the ground. "You were out for days."

"Aaron."

He looked back up at me quietly.

"These things happen to me all the time. It's nothing new."

He furrowed his brow and gave me a surprised glance. "Serious?"

I nodded. "I _live_ out here."

"You always get injured like this?"

I shrugged. "Sometimes. It depends on what I have to do. If, for instance, I have to deal with Silus… Then yes."

"I can't believe this." He muttered, his shoulders slumping. "I live in a castle with parents that give me anything we want and a constant flow of food and shelter." He paused. "While you and probably tons of others are out here just barely making it out of anything alive."

I opened my mouth to protest… but he was right. I've seen children, entire families, trying to live. People die frequently out here while they and a few select others are chosen to live in places of wonder with constant profit. "But we've gotten used to it."

I shook his head angrily. "You're all trapped out here. If you had the chance, your people would come and live where we are."

"Which wouldn't be right." I said, looking him straight in the eyes. "We don't need much, and at least the majority of us would live, okay?"

He nodded.

"Alright. We need to get out of here." I said, standing.

"How… how are you on your feet?"

I smiled and pointed at my bandages. "You patched me up pretty good, and, out here, we're adapted to heal quicker."

He smiled and got up. "Nice."

I whistled and Aviarius landed on my extended arm. "Go scout ahead and come down if you see a town."

He cawed, happy to be under command again, and flew into the sky and circled around our area.

"Let's go." I said, trudging through the snow.

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**Look who made it to the end of chapter two! Good job! Now go, tell me how absolutely FABULOUS I am (joking, I already know.) Anyways, I'll post chapter 3 if all goes well and I don't burn up (CUZ THIS GIRL IS ON FIRREEEEE.) Farewell for now, children.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again. I'm back with chapter 3, and its still 100% Llama, (it's mine but for you to enjoy, obviously.) Last time (for those who may not remember,) Aaron, Faith and Aviarius were on their way to the nearest town for some food and a break from the cold. Now you best get reading, (I think you'll like this one...)**

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About five hours later, Aviarius swooped down by our exhausted bodies and cawed in warning. I looked up, body frozen and soaked to the core.

"What is it Avian?" I called, sniffling from the cold.

He landed on my good shoulder and squawked happily.

"A town…?" I asked, looking into the distance. Indeed, like Aviarius had said, there were bright lights shimmering against the snow. My heart leapt in my chest at the thought of a dry house and a hot meal. I quickly turned to Aaron, who was quietly walking behind me. "Aaron! There's a town!"

He came up beside me and lightly gripped my forearm. "Cool." He said, clearly tired.

My face turned pink and he dropped his hand. "C'mon. Don't quit on me yet."

He smiled and blinked his tired eyes. "Sure."

We both nearly collapsed by the time we reached the doorway of the old-fashioned inn. As we stumbled to the stairs, an older woman came up and helped us to a room with two separate beds, (thank the gods for that.) I quickly walked to the nearest one and fell over. Aaron nearly missed the bed and I smiled.

"You alright?" I asked him.

"Yeah… Thanks." He tossed his head in my direction. "You?"

"I'm great." I replied with a small sigh.

He opened his mouth and then came a long pause. "So… What's going to happen after this is over?"

I closed my eyes, ready to fall asleep. Another long pause came before I replied. "Well, I'll go back to my normal life and you'll go back to yours." When an answer from him didn't follow, I cracked open my eye and saw his back turned on me. I was puzzled. "Why… isn't that how you want it to be?"

I heard a small rumble of a snore come from his chest. Aaron was clearly asleep,(right in the middle of our conversation, might I add.) I found myself smiling, and I was strangely quite happy. I didn't know why… well I knew why, I just wasn't going to admit it to myself. I turned away, towards the open window where Avian was perched.

"Night, Aviarius."

He gave a small coo in reply and flew over to the empty side of my pillow. He clawed at the cloth and debated to curl up next to the back of my head. I grinned and fell asleep happy for the first time in my life since my parents were alive. Once I entered my subconscious, however that happiness dissipated very quickly.

Now the nightmares I have are always bad. They are always vivid, painful, violent, and always, ALWAYS, scary. Sometimes Beast even gets overwhelmed and makes me wake up. Other times he wakes me up so I don't hurt myself as I kick and thrash in my sleep. I often come to while I'm crying, shivering, and screaming all at the same time. Of course, tonights nightmare was one of my worst.

_A small little baby was crying and screaming, just born. Her mom was happy, for she finally had the child she thought she could never have. The man beside her had some tears flowing silently down his strong cheekbones as he smiled and gripped his wife's hand. The mother had beautiful wavy blonde hair and pale skin, with eyes the color of a soft amber. Her husband had dark ruffled hair with tan skin, freckles, and a bad boy smirk. His stormy grey eyes lit up like thunder when his small, delicate daughter was handed to him. _

"_She's beautiful." He choked, giving his wife a kiss on the cheek._

_The woman nodded, tears rolling down her soft features. She smiled happily and held her hand over her mouth._

_The oil lamp flickered, and the husband quickly handed over the baby to his wife. He unsheathed a deadly bone-like sword with agile hands and cautiously walked in front of his wife and baby in a protective stance._

_Suddenly, nurses shouted and screamed from the hall. Black smoke leaked from under the wooden door. As it creaked open the man took a step forward, ready to fight. The mother was now panicked, holding her baby very close to her chest. The baby was strangely silent, as if she understood to be quiet._

_The smoke entered the room and swirled into a full-on demon. It's bright red eyes and black skin sent billions of shivers down my spine. It was built for fear, and it made the small baby whimper helplessly in it's mother's arms._

"_How did you find us?!" The man cried out angrily. "You said you'd never come back!"_

_The demon cackled, amused. A deep, hissing voice following. "I sssaid I'd come when I wanted my prizzzee…" It looked over at the small baby and let it's blood-caked teeth stretch into a crooked smile._

"_No…" The man said in horror. "You can't! You said that you'd wait until our great grandchildren!"_

_The demon chuckled. "You remember the contract, fool. Your wife lives, a demon possess a descendant."_

_The man's expression turned desperate. "Please… Don't take her…"_

"_Too late."_

"_NO!" The man screamed, and slashed the air. The demon disappeared and suddenly, and the baby stopped breathing._

_Suddenly pain shot through my body. Rocketing through my nerves and hit my heart and brain like a firecracker. My ears rang as I collapsed, and the woman screamed and sobbed over her baby. The man cried out in pain as his hair suddenly adapted some silver streaks, he fell to the ground, crawling towards his shaken wife. From the floor I felt my sanity sinking to hell. I saw pictures of violence and blood, everyone I had ever killed or hurt. My shrill scream pierced the air as the baby slowing began breathing again. I realized the baby had adapted distinct silver eyes and I felt it's irregular heartbeat… and it suddenly hit me. That baby… was me._

I bolted upright in my bed, drenched in sweat and screaming bloody murder. I silently sat there and shuddered as the freezing draft sailed through the open window. I panted and looked around for signs of reality. I saw Aaron sitting up, staring at me, concerned. I glanced at my pillow, which had been slashed and ripped by my beastly, shadowy claws. I let the claws disappear wordlessly, I reached over shakily and chugged a half glass of water by my nightstand.

Aaron got up and looked into my wide, frightened eyes. "Faith.. what happened?"

I squirmed away from him and fell back off the bed, crying.

He stared at me with a pained expression. He silently arose and picked me up, setting me in his bed. I shook uncontrollably and rocked back and forth. He came back shortly with a cool rag and pressed it up against my forehead. I wiped my nose to find blood slowly trickling down my upper lip. My parents… I had literally relived the most traumatizing moment of my life, the day I was possessed by Beast, who was completely silent.

_Why…? _I asked him, trembling from head to toe.

A long pause kept me waiting, but he answered softly, almost gently, _I didn't want Clyde to possess you. Your father knew that if he got to you, it would be over. So, while Clyde was distracted by his sword, I had a moment to step in and get to you instead. The contract said someone had to be possessed, but it never stated by who._

I gulped. _So you saved me._

_We're not all completely evil, Faith._

Aaron tapped my good shoulder and stared into my eyes. "Faith…?"

I nearly jumped up and smacked him in the face, but instead I just shuddered. "My parents… Clyde…"

I don't know how, but he understood what I was saying. He took the cloth off of my head and nodded. "It's okay now, it was just a dream."

"But it happened…" I protested.

"In the past." He said, his voice calm and persuasive. He quietly wrapped his strong arms around my trembling body and hugged me tightly. "You're safe."

I half-believed him. I closed my eyes and surrendered the cold heart I had developed over the years and let my head rest on his shoulder. Maybe I was actually going to be safe. Maybe…

I felt his arms release me as he eased me into the bed.

"Aaron."

He got up and sat with a pillow on the floor next to me. "Yeah?"

"Please…"

I saw a gentle smile stretch across his face in the dim light. " I won't leave, okay?"

I took a deep breath, relieved. "Okay."

He looked like he felt accomplished for getting me to warm up to him a bit. The smirk on his face didn't leave, even when he drifted off to sleep.

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**Heh heh. I bet that warmed your heart up a bit, (don't say you didn't like it, because I know you did.) I just want to give a heads up that this story is going to be LONG. Like a legit story story, but hang in there, I'll make sure it's worth it! Stayed tuned, chapter 4 is coming soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey hey hey it's Llama, and with chapter 4! If you read chapter three, you'd be anticipating this a bit, because the sweetest thing happened between Faith and Aaron last time (even I admit they're pretty cute together, but no spoilers ;) Why are you still reading this? Get to the story already! (I'm not that interesting compared to this...)**

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I woke up the next morning with a small coo from a jittery Aviarius, who was pulling lightly at my hair. I rubbed my eyes and got out of bed, a little wobbly. I went to the bathroom where a pump and a metal tub awaited me with clean towels. I took a quick bath and washed off my grimy, bloody clothes. I slipped them on again and walked out and grabbed my forgotten red bandanna, that was hiding in my pocket. I fingered it and thought of my dad, who gave it to me when I was young. I tied it around my neck and came out find Aaron. He was in clean clothes and looked stressed.

"What's wrong?" I asked, folding my arms. "Did they make you pay for the room yet?"

"Yes of course." He sighed. "But that's not what's bothering me." He paused and glanced up at me. "We are further away from the capitol than I thought."

My jaw nearly dropped. "You want to go _there?! _Do even know where we are?!"

He blinked, puzzled. "Hmm… Now to think about it… no, I don't…"

I rubbed my temples as Aviarius flew onto my shoulder. "We're in Naklem, Aaron, hundred of miles away from there. Not to mention the mountain that's east of here."

"Great." He muttered.

Beast spoke up in my head, commenting on a thought I've been having lately. _Remember that conversation we had on the way here? The longer he stays, the more of a chance that he'll be discovered by Clyde. You KNOW what he does to your loved ones._

I hung my head slightly. Beast was right. Almost everyone that I'd tried to let into my life has been either killed, scarred, or seriously injured. Worse yet, some were even taken by…

I shook my head and ran my hand through my hair. "I'll help."

He opened his mouth to protest, "I mean, I don't _need_ to get back…" He smirked at me, kinda like my dad would at my mom.

I blushed. "But you probably should."

He laughed and opened the wooden door. "Shall we?"

I smiled. "Why of course, sir."

I walked out the door and down the hall and thanked the elderly innkeeper, _"Tibi gratias agimus quod, Xenophontis _Thank you, Madam."

She smiled and nodded happily at me and returned to her work.

As we exited the inn, Aaron looked at me, confused. "What language was that?"

"Latin." I replied. "The elderly and most people know it fluently. Beast also knows it well."

He sour expression crossed over his face. "I never learned it."

I laughed. "That's how we identify the other peasants in the country, don't worry about it too much."

He sighed. "Just try to translate for me, if you can."

"No promises."

He shook his head and smiled.

That night, we were forced to sleep outside. The town that was about a mile away happened to be a place where Beast was unleashed years ago. Of course, that little memo allowed my nightmares to take over and make me relive it all.

_The snow swirled around a little girl's tiny, exhausted face. She shivered, and hugged her arms closer. Tears were streaming down her face silently as she constantly climbed out of footprints that broke into the snow banks too deep. The frostbite was getting to her ears and her tiny hands. Her parents had died about 3 months ago, and she was only 8. Her friend was helping her inside her head, telling her where to go and how to survive. She was smart, and she knew that there was a town nearby. Her wavy blonde hair fluttered behind her shoulders, covered in frost. She knew she was fine… but she was so, so scared. Even her friend probably couldn't help her feelings of loneliness. She wanted her pretty mom to cuddle her close and tell her it was going to be okay, she wanted her dad to come in and play swords with her again. She wanted what every girl her age had; a loving family. But all she had was her friend and herself. She tried to keep moving, but she was tired and sore… so sore. Her stomach growled angrily. She hadn't eaten in days, and she was about to drop dead. As she stumbled along, she heard voices bouncing off of the trees, the voices of evil and of the dead. She became more cautious, and stumbled onward. The voices were getting louder and louder, yelling and screaming in her ears. She desperately squeezed her eyes shut and moved her hands to her numb ears. But the voices just kept getting louder and louder. She screamed, more tears flooding down her face. She ran for the safe, warm lights of the town. when she arrived, though, she found men outside of a tavern. The voices ceased and with trembling hands, she hugged her arms once more. The men were rude and shouted nasty remarks at her. They approached her, telling her to give them what she had. One man picked her up by the back of her shirt, when he turned her around, he saw he was holding a good-sized wolf by the back of it's neck. He dropped it, stunned. The wolf's red eyes and vicious fangs formed an aggressive expression. He told the wolf to back down, but it instead pounced on him and tore him to shreds. The other two men looked at each other and ran, not from the wolf, but from their former friend, who was now standing up undead and bloody. He followed his friends and soon, the entire town was burning, filled with zombies. And there, in the middle of all the destruction, was a that small girl. Cold, tired, and covered in blood. She yelled and screamed at her friend for making her kill them. She was telling him to stop doing all these terrible things and to stop making her hear the voices, while the undead walked all around, ignoring her._

I woke up, eyes wide and ready to run. When I processed what had happened, I held my head in my hands. One of my first experiences without my parents, which was the worst out of many more. I was honestly sick of it, pain, sadness, fear, and all of the anger. I sighed and looked and the fire, which had gone out. The small lean-to Aaron made was suitable, but it hardly protected us from the cold. He was sleeping soundly, snoring. I looked at Aviarius, who was staring at me, unblinking. His golden eyes glowed in the darkness of the night. I summoned a small blue flame on my fingertips that lit up the place like a bonfire, and I was instantly grateful for being a sorceress. It was warm, and comforted me slightly. Aviarius flew over and came closer to the heat. The night was bitter and freezing, making Aaron and I shift uncomfortably when the wind blew. I glanced at the town, not far away. I saw the corpses from my memory flash briefly before my eyes and rubbed them, upset. I remembered Beast's ability to turn the living into the dead through a bite of his fangs. I wondered if Silus was still even alive. I bit before, in defense of myself. I don't know how, but he lived through it, (and became more deranged than ever.) I hoped that this time, he was dead for good.

I suddenly felt a strong hand clamp on my bad shoulder. I knew it wasn't Aaron, because he would obviously know better than to touch it. Aviarius cawed angrily as I whipped my head to find a guard from the town turn me around and punch me in the face. I fell back, stunned. As the guard came in for another punch, he got tackled by groaning heap.

"Avian?" I asked, wiping my bleeding cheek. Instead I found the brute zombie from the scenario years ago. It looked at me, arm barely attached and skin falling off with blood dripping from his rotting teeth. It cocked it's head and groaned. I squirmed away in disgust and got out my dagger. I flash of steel cracked the zombie right in the head. Aaron looked over, eyebrows raised questioningly at me. He sheathed his sword and grimaced at the dead guard.

"What the hell… was that..?" He asked.

I shrugged, deciding not to tell him about the things that happened here. "I think that was a zombie…"

He sighed, tired from his lack of sleep. "Great. Are there more?"

I shook my head no. "I don't think so."

"I hope not." He muttered anxiously looking around. "No use getting to sleep now."

I nodded, and pulled out some bread from the inn. We ate, and kept moving on silently.

Sometimes he talked to me, other times Beast would. I tried not to think about what I said the night we had slept at the inn. I said that we would go our separate the ways once we made it to the capitol. I didn't think Aaron would be sad once we departed, because he honestly seemed excited about leaving me. But the worst part wasn't the fact that he didn't seem sad, it was the fact that I was sad. I didn't want him to leave. As the weeks went by and we inched closer to our destination, my heart got heavier because when he left, I'd be alone again.

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**Hmm, what's that Faith thinking? And what the heck's going on between these two? Weren't they just together...? Well you'll have to find out in chapter 5, so hang in there guys!**


	5. Chapter 5

**IMMA BACK. I forgot to mention in the last chapter that Ms. Penrose (Faith) speaks Latin. I don't have any experience with it, and all I used was Google Translate (unreliable yes, but I didn't have any other choice.) If any of you guys know Latin (which would be WICKED,) and know that the translation is wrong, I apologize, but I think you get the idea (I'll always have the English translation following, so you'll know what she says. NOW GET TO IT PEEPS.**

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About a few weeks later, we got to the base of the mountain.

Aaron's wavy blonde hair was blowing in the chilly breeze, his eyes glittering in the afternoon sun. "We're almost there…" He said, turning to me. "right in the mountain range."

I adjusted my jacket and frowned. "I know." I grumbled.

His smile faded. "What's wrong?"

"I have no idea how we're going to get over." I replied, lying. I had been upset since last week about his attitude recently. He was all happy and giddy when just a few weeks ago he had been showing other feelings. Was it me? Was it Beast?

_He has to leave. _Beast growled. _I've had just about enough of his company._

_You won't have to put up with him much longer Beast. _I replied sadly.

Beast's anger wavered. I felt him have a slight shift at heart. _Look, you don't have to be so upset about him leaving, he's just another person._

I sighed, he knew well that my memory was recovering slowly. I remember bits and pieces of Aaron and I as kids. Our families were close, but we were even closer. After my parents died in the 'accident', I was torn away from him by… something. _But he's the closest I have to family. _I insisted to Beast.

"Hello?" Aaron asked, trying to get my attention.

"_Quid mihi et tibi est volo?!"_ _(What do you want?!)_ I snapped angrily in latin.

He took a step back. "Calm down, Faith!"

"_Facile nam vos ut dicunt inprobus!" (Easy for you to say jerk.)_ I cried, stomping my foot. _"Vos iustus clausus!" (You just shut up)_

He crossed his arms and furrowed his brow. "You know I can't understand you!"

Beast suddenly emerged and forced me to change into him. He made me lunge and jump on his chest. _"QUIET YOU TEDIOUS PESTILENCE!" _He growled, snapping his maw. _"I DO __NOT__ WANT TO HEAR ANOTHER WORD OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!" _

Aaron wiped the froth from his face and shoved us (Beast and I) off his chest. "Holy shit! Faith what the hell is wrong with you?!"

I decided to let Beast handle this because honestly, I was too broken to talk to him. _Take it easy Beast._

_I know no boundaries. _He hissed.

_Don't be irrational. _I begged. _And don't hurt him either._

Beast made us walk in a circle. He gave Aaron a vicious grin. _"No Faith now, boy. Just you and me."_

Aaron glared. "What did you do to her?!"

A small cackle arose from Beast's throat. _"Give me one reason why I'd hurt her. No, she's fine. But you…" _he said, growling, _"Have hurt her more than I."_

I realized what he was about to do. Demons were protective of their hosts, and right at that moment Beast wanted to eliminate the threat. _Beast stop. _I asked sternly, trying to reason with him.

_He's causing you pain. I must get rid of him._

It was happening. _BEAST NO!_

Beast forced us to lunge. Aaron grabbed his sword from his belt and dodged. Beast charged, sending us flying at Aaron, who looked like he was about to stab us. I knew one hit like that from him and Beast would most likely die. So at the last moment, I forced Beast down and I changed back into a human, and Aaron cut me right across the chest.

My eyes got wide, and I fell over, holding my fresh wound.

Aaron's bloody sword clanged to the ground as he rushed over to me. "FAITH!"

I got out my dagger and swiped at him, and little slash mark opened up on his cheek.

He ignored it, and continued. "Faith are you-" He began to ask, but as soon as he saw my face he stopped.

My blood had splattered all over my face, which now had a very grey complexion. The gash was huge, and ran from my good shoulder to the lower stomach. Blood seeped between my stained hands as I kicked my legs to try and get away from him.

"Faith I didn't mean…" He pleaded.

"Get away." I whispered loud enough for him to hear. "For the love of everything holy, just get away from me."

He looked so sad, and I knew he felt guilty. "I didn't mean..."

I swallowed hard, knowing I was most likely to either die or go into shock any second. I stayed silent and kept moving back. I stopped, and slowly removed my hand, becoming light-headed. I instantly summoned the little gold healing spell and put it over my gash, it closed, but not very well. It had patched funny, and there was definitely an infection. I tried to stand, but fell back.

Aaron came over to help, but I used Beast's shadowy powers to sink through the ground and appear feet away. "Faith I didn't mean to I swear." He pleaded, tears welling up in his eyes.

I realized that I too, was crying. "Sure…" I croaked.

He approached me slowly, and took off his belt of weapons, throwing it away on the ground. I trembled as he came up next to me. He wiped the blood off my face gently as he held my face in his hands. The cold winds seemed to blow harder as I blinked away more tears.

"I tried to talk to him." I whispered. "He never listens…"

He shook his head. "Don't blame it all on yourself. It was me...'

"No." I insisted. I opened my mouth to talk, but I hesitated. "I… I didn't want you to leave me again."

His face brightened slightly. "You do remember?"

I nodded sheepishly. "A little… I was too upset to say anything about you going home but… I guess if you're happy about it there's nothing I can do…"

His smile he had on faded. "Oh no…. I." He drew a sharp breath. "I sent a parchment to my parents from the inn a few weeks ago, and they said that you could stay if you needed to." He explained, drying more of my tears. "I should've told you but I completely forgot after the news of how far away home was."

That just made me snap. I had been mad at him for no reason whatsoever. I nearly fainted as Aaron tried to hold me up. He helped me to my feet and I called for Aviarius.

"Avian…" I explained to the bird. "We need to get to the capitol-" I was interrupted by a terrible coughing fit, which caused me to spit up some blood in the snow.

Aaron looked at me and held me up. "Aviarius, if there's anything you can do…"

Aviarius cawed, getting the urgency of the matter. He landed on the ground and molted into a huge, white griffon.

"He can do that?" He asked, smiling at me.

I gave a faint smile in return and nodded. "Yeah…"

I leaned against Aviarius' huge body while Aaron climbed on and grabbed me to help me up. He held onto me as I laid across Aviarius' back. I felt him take off into the sky, and I soon fell into a dark sleep with Aaron's arms around me and the steady of Aviarius' large wings.

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**After much debate, I've decide to stop with my little comments before and after the story so you guys can just read, okay? I guess if it's a bad idea, PLEASE, tell me (I like chatting but I know, it's a bit unnecessary sometimes.) **


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